GOMS Analysis

These are explicit respresentations of users that predict user behavior and product usability.

Keystroke Level Model

  • Rules for applying the KLM
  • Predicts task length for an expert user
  • Review example in class

We will practice this method on this unit converter.

GOMS (Goals, Operators, Methods, Selection) hierarchical analysis

The four components of a GOMS analysis

  • Goal -- desired result; does not specify means for achieving result
  • Operator -- a primitive step for achieving a goal; often a user action
  • Method -- a plan for achieving a goal consisting of operators
  • Selection -- a rule for recommending a method that achieves a goal

Properties

  • Explicitly represent the user's knowledge and actions in the form of goals and subgoals
  • The depth of the hierarchy indicates the complexity of the product and task
  • Usage statistics of task components can be applied to other tasks that use the same components
  • Article reviewing GOMS approaches

We will review a GOMS example in class.